Barnesalona League
Lokomotiv Londres FC 0 v West Ken Kings 2
Last time these sides met Loko upset the cart with a hard-fought 2-1 win. However this time Loko took to the field without Roger Barnes-Barrington, scorer of both goals in th
e famous victory; those fans of the stationmasters who had feared that their team would therefore lack a cutting edge up front were sadly proved right. The Old Kings dominated proceedings from start to finish and, despite never hitting top gear, were unlucky to finish with only two goals.With the sun out (ish) a brimming squad of fifteen turned up at Barnes, all hoping for a game. To accommodate the demand both manager Jules and assistant Rohan retreated to the bench. Steve Martin returned to play in goal, hoping to nail down the number 1 shirt in the run-up to the Tournoi. Pete and Paul played centre half, with Nick and Christophe as full backs. Dale and Adrian started in the centre, flanked by Ismail at left mid and Dave on the right. Mark returned to partner James up front. Joining the management on the side were Doug, Stefan and Stephane, who despite the strapping seems to have finally overcome his knee injury.
As Loko warmed up one of the King’s men came over, seemingly to join in the stretching. However he actually bore the news that one of the refs had failed to show and that league chairman Cedric had selected Kings-Loko as the match most capable of governing itself. One of the WKK lads generously took charge of the first half and Jules kindly did likewise for the second. With the situation as it was, both sets of players resolved to make it as good-natured a match as possible.When proceedings eventually began, Loko charged upfield and enjoyed a three-minute spell of pressure, their last of the match. A series of throw-ins and corners yielded nothing more potent than a soft shot from Christophe that was easily caught by the keeper.
The tide soon turned and Kings piled forward. They created many good chances but somehow the scoresheet remained blank. Their forward lofted a tame shot into Steve’s hands and many other long range shots flew high, wide or both. Clear-cut chances were rare though, despite Loko looking lacklustre when clearing their lines. Whenever Loko broke, the ball just wouldn’t stick up front despite Mark and James gamely chasing everything.
Kings concentrated their attacks down Loko’s left flank, leaving Dave with plenty of room on the right wing that he was unable to exploit due to lack of possession. On the one occasion when he did manage to get to the line and float in a cross there was no one in the centre to meet it. The Royals though were causing problems as Christophe was constantly dragged out of position at left back. Jules swapped Chris and Ismail over in a bid to counter this but both of them were pegged back.
Kings created their best chance when a low shot from the small guy up front was parried low at his near post by Steve. The ball span out invitingly to the feet of a Kings player, who managed to screw his shot across goal from two yards out which allowed a Loko defender to come across and block. The ball then fell neatly at the feet of another King, who also managed to fluff his lines with the goal utterly at his mercy. However they actually came closest to scoring when Pete almost put a perfect lob over Steve’s head – the lively Loko vet tipped it wide in superb Dykstra fashion.
Quite how Loko managed to survive with a clean sheet until half time is beyond me.
Half Time Loko 0 v West Ken Kings 0
At the break Jules called all the players over to the touchline. He was clearly tired of saying the same things every week, but still it remained that Loko’s failings were the same as ever – a basic lack of team aggression and fitness. The league and cup may well be gone but first team spots for the tournoi are still there to be fought for, so commitment to the game should be as standard. At least Jules had the luxury of four subs with which to try to shake up the game; Dougie came on for Nick, Rohan for Ismail at left back, Stephane for Christophe and Stefan for Mark.
The defence seemed stronger for the changes and Kings created fewer chances in the second half. Possession was also more equally shared, although once again Loko never once looked like scoring. I seem to recall a shot trickling wide but can’t remember whose it was. Any takers?
Meanwhile Kings finally broke the deadlock following a floated cross from Loko’s right. It drifted in towards the near post and a strong gust of wind wrong-footed Steve and he was unable to claw it out. Loko heads went down but there was no discernible difference to the match. Kings continued to press without any great urgency and they scored their second when the small guy, running through onto yet another long punt, left Doug and Paul staring at each other and finished well past Steve’s block and Rohan’s diving head.
And finish it they did with no scares. As Dale said: a match to forget. Ole, ole ole ole….
Final Score Loko 0 v West Ken Kings 2
Manager Julian Milne's comments:
"Not a performance that will live long in the memory. A few too many players seemed to be just going through the motions and although the scoreline suggests a tight match I never felt we had enough sustained pressure or possession in their half to really trouble them. Some decent individual performances but as a team our progression has reached a cei
ling because we never have the same team week in week out. The understanding that would ordinarily develop between players is stunted by this and any continuity thwarted.
We certainly have a lot of people wanting to play for the club which is nice to see and on a certain level that is the most important thing. We can field a team each week and without a trophy to gun for we must focus on enjoying our football as (hopefully) the weather starts to improve and we can start looking forward to playing in this year’s Tournoi."
Team Line Up
1. Steve M
2. Nick M
3. Christophe
4. Pete
5. Paul D (c)
6. Adrian
7. Dave
8. Dale
9. James
10. Mark
11. Ismail
12.Doug (Replaced Nick M 45th Minute)
13. Rohan (Replaced Ismail 45th Minute)
14. Stephane (Replaced Christophe 45th Minute)
15. Stefan (Replaced Mark 45th Minute)
Match Report provided by Rohan Tesh.
